“We feel that it would be undemocratic to move forward with an event that will have massive implications for the future of our city without determining whether the people who live there are on board. And the polls suggest that Bostonians not only want a vote on the Olympics, but that they're not especially excited about the idea of hosting the Games,” Leibowitz said.
According to a recent survey conducted by the largest public radio station in Boston WBUR, 33 percent of Bostonians oppose city Olympics, with 43 percent of respondents saying they were not excited about the event. Three-quarters of respondents stressed that residents in Boston and surrounding towns should vote on whether to host the 2024 Summer Games.
“The people of Boston and throughout the state of Massachusetts understand there are tremendous risks associated with hosting the Games,” Leibowitz said. “Looking at the history of past Olympic Games suggests that the benefits to Boston would probably be minimal while the risks would be enormous.”
The committee for Boston 2024 has pushed an Olympic bid to the international level without asking for public input and without holding any community meetings, the spokesperson explained, adding that Olympic Games tend to go over budget, people get displaced and taxpayers are forced to pay for cost overruns.
In a Monday interview Boston 2024 committee CEO Richard Davey said he intends to meet with No Boston Olympics committee and hold public meetings regarding the bid.
Mayor Walsh sees terrible poll #s, flips on #Boston2024 Olympic referendum. Smart pol, trouble for Boston bid http://t.co/WXHSeuMJdu
— Jon Keller (@kelleratlarge) January 20, 2015
Earlier in January Boston Mayor Martin Walsh indicated that he was not in support of a referendum on hosting the Olympics, but at the same time would not try to block one.
On January 8 the US Olympic Committee announced that Boston would represent the United States in its bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. The host of the Games will be announced in 2017 in Lima, Peru.
